Local bikers, ATV’ers unite to support Merrill ‘Food For Kids’

Teachers or aides discretely place an individual bag of food into each participating student’s backpack on Friday (or the last school day of a particular week) so that the student will have supplemental food to take home, to provide meals and snacks on the weekend when meals are not available at the school.

Each food bag for students includes 14 items; including juice, breakfast foods, ready-to-eat meals, and snacks; at an approximate cost of $6 per student.

From soaring temperatures throughout the day Sunday, to the driving rain and winds during the evening storms, participants defied whatever mother nature threw at them while completing the 93-mile trek. Eight area establishments welcomed riders including DAT Bar, Chris and Karen’s Hub Inn and The Boars Nest Bar of Gleason.
Typically the Boars Nest is closed Sundays, but owner Jr. Osheim not only opened his establishment specifically to host riders as a route stop, but later joined in on the ride. Chris and Karen Streich-owners of the Hub Inn- made the Father’s Day event a family affair, joining the ride with son Michael and contributing to fundraising efforts with a 50/50 raffle.

“When we first learned of the ride being organized we knew right away we wanted to welcome riders as a route stop, but also wanted to do what we could to support the event,” Karen explains. “I think it’s amazing what the Food for Kids program does for local children. Having a ride like this to give people a chance to get involved in supporting the program is fantastic. It doesn’t get much better than getting out there and having some fun with other riders while supporting such a wonderful organization. We were excited to get involved and look forward to working with the Community New Year Ride organization with similar events in the future.”
“We were a little unsure of what we would see for a turnout given we planned the ride on Father’s Day,” comments New Year Ride chair and co-founder Jeremy Ratliff. “But in the long-run the ride ended up becoming a Father’s Day activity for many of those who joined us and that just made the ride that much more fun. We saw a lot of cameras being used and family members just having a lot of fun and making memories together, and all for an amazing cause. But this is just the beginning. We will be getting together again for another run on Saturday, Sept. 8, supporting our partner organization, Rosco’s Ride. Rosco will be gearing up for his third annual ride and has his sights set on doubling what we raised over the weekend. Us trail riders will be out in the hills doing what we can to help make that happen. Come on out and join us Sept. 8 for the ride and other festivities in support of the Merrill Food for Kids program!”

The Sunday Funday Ride would like to thank all participants, especially the owners of the eight participating establishments: Baron’s Dugout Bar, Z’s Fork Horners, Fisher’s Bar, Nut-Zees Inn, DAT Bar, Hub Inn, The Boars Nest Bar of Gleason and Outsiders.